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Poetry for Peace. Day 16. Poem 16. Where I Am,

Wow! A quarter to midnight! And today's poem is done in the nick of time - number sixteen, I do believe, of a mere 365, for am pledged, fool that I am, to write and publish one poem a day for an entire year.I hope you like it as much as I sweated writing it.

Where I am

by Steve CookSometimes I think I'll take leave of my senses,Walk out the door,Leave now-I'm-supposed-toWith no fixed abodeAnd hit the road again.I'll trek once more, Like I did beforeIn the not-so-long ago Scrap-book of recent adventure,The eternal beaches Of the never-ending shore.It stretches to infinity like my dreams,The back-of-beyond, Middle-of-nowhereFar-reaching certainty of seeming eternityThat carries mortality in a backpackIn the middle distance,Leaving me feeling big as a country.The memories come unbidden still,After the years slipped away Like a missed flight,Laden with longing, The sense of belongingLike lost luggage.Seems like I'm everywhere and nowhere,Forever almost lost yet not quite found, Deliberately pitched at the edge Of the un-mapped forest,Making a vain quest for sleep By the restless beach under the stars.I'm lying there againOn the edge of the limelight,Hearing the sound Of the pounding breakersAnd the subliminal whisperOf moonlit fingers Sweeping the soft sandLike clock hands.Sometimes.Sometimes I think like that,Surrendering to nostalgia,Looking back at the twilight Instead of forward toward the dawn.Most times though I recollect myself and rememberI'm always right hereAnd quite frankly happyWhere I am.